rookie question..

How often do you clean your filters? i have a 60 gal tank with a 75 gal filter.. how often should i open her up and clean it or change the insides? generally...

saltwater if it matters...

When I was running a canister on my saltwater I did it once a month, took it apart and clean the foam filters anyway. The rest of it was lr rubble.

Once a month is probably good enough, but it really depends on number of fish in tank and how often you do partial water changes. Checking nitrate, nitrite and ammonia levels will tell if once a month is enough for your tank. Good Luck!

jsut keep up regularly with WC's and once a month should be ok.
just make sure not to skip the WC's. those filters build up nitrates like crazy!

dang i was thinking like every 6 months.. I'll get on that right now then!!!!!

really they build up nitrates, what about if using them for freshwater, i've always loved canister over power filters.... in my opinion the bio wheel hobs are a waste.. I get biomax, and put it in a panty hose and that was the only way i found for hobs to be decent. just my opinion though.

"no filters" here lol I actually bought a brand new one to use on the RSM 130, I used it less than a week then yanked it off. now I'm back to nothing but a skimmer I even modded the new RSM 250 and took out all the sponges, bio pellet media etc and man does it run better without anything to the collect junk. BTW I have a barely used canister filter almost "nib" in the garage if anyone is interested? original cost was 200.00...
as to the question I would make sure you clean the filters atleast every other week if not weekly. I use diesel bags to polish the water on the 180 and they get changed every other day.

lol...i have a penn plax 1100 on a freshwater tank. had it for over 2 yrs now. Wanna take a gander at how many times this puppy has been opened since it's been running ...... never. DOH!

I guess I should at some point eh? at least fish out all the snails in there. lol

wow james that sounds like its very ripe:)
you couldn't get away with that on a reef tank.

absolutely not!

Kids...don't try this on salt tanks!

James0816 wrote:

absolutely not!

Kids...don't try this on salt tanks!

I rinse my filter cartridges with every water change. Rinse in the bucket of dirty tank water and put back. I have yet to change a filter cartridge and don't know when I will do that.

i cleaned my filter last night after about a year and a half and it was DIRTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! holy cr@p guys... at LEAST 6 inches of straight sluge on the bottom. i was wondering why my water wasn't getting crystal clear like it used to . cr@p i'm stupid. but no fish have died cuz of it. and now, hot dang, it looks great in there. NEVER AGAIN!!!!!!

nah.. not stupid:) we learn new things everyday.
heck I just discovered Hydrogen peroxide kills hair algae on zoa frags
who da thunk it?

lol for sure. ok new question. my protien skimmer... how often do i clean that? and how do i can it? what makes it filter?

most of the time I just empty and clean the cup with a light solution of vinegar and water then rince well, you can also take the skimmer completely off/out and put it in a different container with a light solution of vinegar and water then plug the skimmer in and let the water flow through it, rince well. do this maybe every 6 months. I have an insump skimmer and I can see inside of it so I know its clean.
Skimmers work by creating a "foam" in the reaction chamber. This foam is an air and water mixture, to remove (dissolved organic compounds) they use a simple trick of chemistry, Many of these DOC's (dissolved organic compounds)have a hydrophobic and a hydrophyllic end. The hydrophobic end is "afraid" of the water bubbles and thus is repelled by them. The hydrophyllic end "likes" the water bubbles and is attracted to them, then it rises into the column of foam. The foam, rich in DOC's spills over into the collection cup. This foam is the green or brown stuff that smells pretty bad.
the ocean does the samething thats the foam you see on the beach.

awesome explaination, THANKS!!!! it's all so clear now lol

Demonkegman wrote:

awesome explaination, THANKS!!!! it's all so clear now lol

lol no its not clear, its green or brown:) jk

ahh, i see what you did there...